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Greenwald's backer: eBay founder Omidyar

By Dylan Byers

10/16/13 09:53 AM EDT

The secret is out: Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, is the benefactor behind Glenn Greenwald's forthcoming media venture.

Greenwald, the journalist who broke the National Security Agency surveillance story, announced Wednesday that he was leaving The Guardian to start what he described as “very substantial new media outlet" with significant financial backing.

Omidyar, a 46-year-old Iranian-American with an estimated net-worth of $8.5 billion, will personally fund the web-based media project. He confirmed the news to CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday after Reuters broke the news Tuesday night.

Omidyar currently serves as chairman of the board at eBay Inc and oversees various media, business and philanthropic through the Omidyar Network. He also funds a Hawaii-based news site, Honolulu Civil Beat, and runs an investment group called Democracy Fund.

In an interview with BuzzFeed' Ben Smith, Greenwald said the new venture would have hubs in New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Greenwald will continue to reside in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On Wednesday, Huffington Post reported that journalists Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras would be joining Greenwald's new venture.